Welcome to Inbox, our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our WFE email. Inbox features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday. Here is this week’s whisky news…
Ardbeg
The Islay distillery of Ardbeg has announced plans to renovate and transform a well-known hotel on its island home to create a world-class whisky and hospitality experience. Ardbeg purchased The Islay Hotel in Port Ellen in 2022 and have now revealed their vision with the idea to supply exceptional accommodation, food and drink to locals and whisky tourists alike.
The plans, led by Russell Sage Designs and owner LVMH, will see the hotel equipped with a new bar with courtyard space, a restaurant including private dining space, quirky luxurious bedrooms and suites, an exclusive space for residents and Ardbeg Committee members, and an exclusive whisky that will only be available at the bar and nearby visitor centre. The hotel will also be renamed Ardbeg House. The hotel will operate in its current guise until late summer this year, before re-opening in May 2025.
Cardhu
The Speyside distillery of Cardhu has announced a special bottling of its classic 12 years old single malt to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the distillery.
The limited edition whisky is the first of its kind for Cardhu, having been experienced a full term maturation in ex-red wine casks. This was overseen by the team at the distillery and a selection of Master Blenders from brand owners Diageo. The packaging and label feature an image of Helen Cumming, the pioneering female distillery owner, waving a red flag – a thing she used to do to tell neighbours that were illegally distilling that the authorities were on their way.
The Cardhu 12 years old 200th Anniversary Wine Cask Edition is bottled at 40% ABV and is available from the Cardhu visitor centre in Speyside. It will also be available in limited quantities in a handful of world markets. A bottle will cost £58.
Lochlea
The Lowland distillery of Lochlea has announced the second release of its limited edition Ploughing Edition single malt. The Lochlea Ploughing Edition (Second Crop) is the fourth and final bottling in its Second Crop series, which celebrates the annual farm cycle. Lochlea is one of the only distilleries in Scotland to grow all of the barley used for whisky production.
Lochlea Ploughing Edition (Second Crop) marks winter in the cycle and the time when fields are ploughed in preparation for sowing the barley in the spring. The release sees the spirit matured for its full term in ex-whisky 200-litre barrels. This gives John Campbell, the Production Director at Lochlea, the chance to talk about his home island of Islay where he grew up and lived for many years. This includes a stint of 27 years when he was the longest serving Distillery Manager at Laphroaig.
Lochlea Ploughing Edition (Second Crop) is bottled at 46% ABV and is both non chill-filtered and of natural colour. It is available from selected specialist whisky retailers in the UK and selected overseas markets. A bottle will cost £52.
Scallywag
The family-owned independent bottlers of Douglas Laing & Co. have announced the latest expression to join their Scallywag blended malt ‘The Chocolate Edition’ range. It is the seventh such whisky to be released, which comes out annually. As with all editions of Scallywag, this features only single malts from Speyside. In this case all have been matured in ex-sherry casks before being married together and finished for a lengthy period in ex-Port casks.
The whisky is presented in a black bottle and paper wrap to represent a classic Port bottling, while also replacing the regular outer carton in an eco-friendly move. Lucky purchasers will also have the chance to win special prizes if they find a golden ticket concealed within the packaging.
The Scallywag ‘The Chocolate Edition’ 2024 Port Casks is bottled at 48% ABV and is both non-chill filtered and of natural colour. It is available through selected specialist whisky retailers in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. A bottle will cost £60.
